Finland blocks more Russian property acquisitions

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Finland's ministry of defence said on Thursday it had blocked seven real estate transactions involving two Russian buyers on grounds that allowing the acquisitions to take place could threaten national security.

Helsinki has sought for some time to limit Russian citizens' purchase of property near strategic locations based on existing regulations, blocking three transactions in October 2023 and another three in January this year.

"The Ministry of Defence carefully investigates the backgrounds of every real estate buyer coming from outside the EU and EEA," Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a statement, referring to the European Union and the European Economic Area which also includes Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

"Protecting our national security is particularly important in the current security situation," he added.

The latest decisions concern one property in Pargas on the coast of southern Finland and five properties in Kokemaki in the southwestern part of the country, the ministry said in a statement.

The two people making the transactions were both private individuals with Russian citizenship, it added.

Finland's government in September proposed to ban most Russian citizens from buying property in the country.

Relations between Finland and neighbouring Russia have soured since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting Helsinki to join the NATO military alliance after decades of non-alignment.

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Kate Mayberry)

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